The Way They Were
by fieldofyellowdandelions
Summary: The digidestined (02) battle a strange creature that has link to their future, hidden in the past.
1. Prologue

(Type a title for your page here) Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, nor do I care to own them. I just like to write them in my stories. 

The Way They Were 

Prologue 

They were losing. Not sorta losing. Not kinda not doing well. They were officially losing. 

It had all started when they'd had gotten an urgent e-mail from Tentamon. It seemed that strange digimon had been sighted and were heading to where Shogungekomon lived with his Gekomon and Otamamon subjects. They destroyed everything in their path. The digidestined, even though BlackWarGreymon was gone and no one had seen either Mummymon or Arukenimon for quite sometime, still had obligations to the Digital World and had gone to help. They went just beyond a ridge, half a mile from the town. It was there that they engaged the enemy. 

There were at least fifty of them, probably more. Huge, insect creatures that resembled giant ants. At first, the digidestined had been reluctant to attack any of the digimon, especially Cody. Then the unknown digimon took the digidestined off guard and attacked. That's when everything took a turn for the worst. The home team was severely outnumbered. Whenever one of the creatures were taken out, two more took its place. Slowly and surely, the ants successfully pushed the digimon and digidestined backwards toward the town. 

That wasn't the only problem. Takeru 'TK' Takaishi was out for the count. He hadn't gotten out of the way of an enemy attack fast enough. The ants had spat out some kind of sticky, poisonous acid, that had hid TK directly in the chest. He was now lying behind an outcropping of rocks with Agnemon hovering protectively overhead. The others didn't want to admit it but they weren't even sure if the boy was dead or alive. 

For one of the few times in Daisuke 'Davis' Motomiya's life, he was considering backing down and retreating. But retreat to where? In a poor move on the digidestine's part, they were surrounded. 

In the middle of the battlefield, the worn out digimon reverted back to their less powerful forms. 

"Veemon!" 

"Hawkmon!" 

"Armadillomon!" 

"Wormmon!" 

"Gatomon!" 

Now they had officially lost. The digidestined ran out to their digimon and began to half carry, half drag their partners backwards. The ants, no longer meeting resistance, surged forward. It would have been time to run, if they weren't surrounded. Davis couldn't believe he was about to do what he was about to do. 

"Davis, what are you doing?!" Miyako 'Yolei' Inoune screamed through gasping breathes as she pulled Hawkmon out of harms way. "This is no time to undress! You're sneakers can't save us, no matter how stinky they are!" 

But it wasn't the sneaker Davis was interested in but his smelly sock, his _white_, smelly sock. Being alive prisoners were better than being dead corpses or, at least, Davis hoped so. 

He looked to the others for input or criticism or ideas. Anything. Hakari 'Kari' Kamiya smiled sadly. Ken Ichijouji nodded in silent agreement. Iori 'Cody' Hida stared down at the ground, embarrassed, knowing their was no other course of action but not liking it on bit. Yolei still didn't get the purpose of the sock. 

Just as Davis was about to raise the sock over his head, their saviors came. 

Garurumon came first, on feet of lightening, with Yamato 'Matt' Ishida crouched forward on his back for aerodynamics, the wind tangling his blond hair. "Howling Blaster!" 

Behind them lumbered Greymon, Taichi 'Tai' Kamiya perched on his shoulder. Tai jumped down just before Greymon tilted back his head and issued forth his attack. "Nova Blast!" 

Jyou 'Joe' Kido and Mimi Tachikawa weren't with their digimon. They stood a ways off, out of the way. Ikkakumon's Harpoon Torpedo herded the ants into larger groups, where Togemon needle sprayed them. It only took one needle per ant. 

Of all the digidestined, it was Sora Takenouchi and Koushiro 'Izzy' Izumi who were in the most danger of getting hit by friendly fire. Sora sat on Birdramon's left talon and whenever a "Metior Wing!" was let loose, the fireballs were so close to Sora that they made her sweat. She could feel their heat against her face. Izzy sat just behind Kabuterimon's head, using the pressure of his palms against Kabuterimon's exoskeleton to keep his balance. The electric current in the air made Izzy's hair stand on end. Sometimes the electrified bolts passed within inches of Izzy's skin and one had even singed his shirt. 

Agnemon, feeling a victory was at hand, temporally left TK's side to join Birdramon and Kabuterimon in the sky. Against the seven original digimon, the already weakened ants didn't stand a chance. They were reduced to digital dust and the field was littered with the tiny particles of data. 

"Do you know what kind of digimon these were?" Yolei asked, looking down at Hawkmon. All the digimon shook their heads, no. 

"I don't think they're digimon." Ken said, bending down to touch the digidust. "Digimon are usually reverted immediately. I'm not even sure if these creatures were even alive." 

Cody breathed a sigh of relief. He hated to destroy living creatures, even if it was in self-defense. Davis didn't have an opinion. He was too busy getting his sock and shoe back on before anyone noticed they were missing and remember what he had been planning to do. 

Now that the danger had passed, Agnemon reverted back to Patamon and crawled back to TK. Matt, Kari, Gatomon and Joe were already gathered around. 

"Is he alright?" Patamon wanted to know, though he already knew the answer. TK was only semi conscious. His eyes were open but hung, unfocused, in his eye sockets. 

"I don't know." Joe admitted, wrapping TK up in his jacket, "I'm not a doctor." 

Matt took TK's hand and squeezed it. "It'll be okay. We'll get you some medical help soon." 

To Matt's utmost relief, TK squeezed back. "Is it over?" 

"It's over." Matt assured and, just as the words were out of his mouth, someone let out a cry of surprise. 

"Or not." Izzy pointed out to the field, where the pieces of demolished digimon were moving towards an epicenter. They were forming a huge mound, which was slowly morphing into some sort of creature. 

It took all of two seconds for the digimon and digidestined alike to realize they'd better get the flaming heck outta there. The digimon were nearly spent. TK desperately needed a hospitable. If they returned to the town, they could set up a barricade, replenish their strength, get medical attention and call in reinforcements. 

"Let's get out of here." Sora told Birdramon, stopping only to get Cody and Armadillomon settled on the other talon. Matt picked up TK and slumped him over Garurumon's back then got up himself. Kabuterimon swooped down to pick up Davis, Ken, Veemon and Wormmon. Joe scrambled up on to Ikkakumon's head. Mimi took one of Togemon's gloved hands and Yolei and Hawkmon claimed the other. Tai was already on Greymon's shoulder, when he risked a look at the newly formed creature. It truly was terrifying. 

To start off, it was huge. Taller than a three story building. And it looked like it had been constructed by several arguing architects who couldn't made up their minds. It stood on three feet. Two were taloned, with curved claws, but the center, with a simple paw for a foot, seemed purely for balance. It's torso came up, like a birds, only jagged scales. It had no wing, but powerful, gorilla arms, made of pure muscle. It's back was a hot, blood red colour and in place of fur or feather was nine-inch spikes. He wasn't going to be attacked from behind. In regards to the head, there was no front or back. It had four mouths, one for every direction, and each looked like it had been chopped off a different creature. One was a beak, another a snout, another human, and the final one had a snake's tongue that hissed in and out. A row of eyes encircling it's brow, each eye was the same evil black and dominating red in colour. It had no nose nor any kind of hair. Just wrinkled, black skin and hundreds of live snakes for hair. 

"Kimeramon." Ken gapped, in fear. Of course, this wasn't the monster the Digimon Emperor, namely Ken, had created but it came a little too close for comfort. 

Then Tai began to think. (Not that he had never thought before, no matter how likely that may sound.) _This doesn't make sense._ He wasn't a genius, like Izzy or Ken, but he wasn't stupid. How could those pieces of broken digimon make up a monster that huge? Answer: The monster was hollow. 

"Don't run!" Tai screamed, "Turn and fight." 

"Turn and what?!" 

"You've got to be kidding." 

"We can't beat that thing!" 

"How do we know unless we try!" Tai jumped down. "I'm betting that thing is hollow. Greymon, go!" 

"Nova Blast!" 

That's all it took. It was blown up, sending digital data every which way, and almost immediately began to reassemble itself, this time as a humanoid figure, part robot, part something else. It once again began to advance. 

Matt could see where this was going. They could keep destroying in but it would keep reassembling itself. TK didn't have that kind of time. 

"I'm going to town!" Matt yelled out. 

Tai understood. "Go, the rest of us can handle this thing." 

Matt didn't need anymore incouragment to get himself and TK out of there. 

"Nova Blast!" 

But this time the robot wasn't phased. It's densely packed body protected it and anchored it. The others joined in. 

"Metior Wing!" 

"Electro Shocker!" 

"Harpoon Torpedo!" 

"Needle Spray!" 

And all of them working together, managed to force the creature to its knees, barely. 

The robot looked at the digidestined and a cruel smile spread over its emotionless face. It's upper limbs, you couldn't really call them arms, came together and began to glow, spreading throughout its whole. 

Tai's attitude did a 180-degree turn. He didn't like that smile. "Run!" But it was too late. 

"Time Warp!" 

It happened so fast, with everything in slow motion. Everyone, digimon and digidestined, saw the purple hue gather around the robotic body. They saw the hue gather in strength and intensity and they saw it explode outward. But they couldn't act or get away before the purplish haze washed over them. It blew them backward with it's power. 

Then it was gone, along with the robotic creature, and the digidestined lay in a heap with their digimon, who'd been forced to revert back to their rookie forms due to the shock of the blast. But other than that, everything looked fine. The digimon and digidestined looked at each other, confused. 

"C'mon Agumon, let's get back to town." Tai said, echoing everyone's thoughts. 

They began to plod back and were a bit shocked to see Garurumon and Matt standing on the ridge, apparently waiting. When the others got there, they saw why. 

"What happened here?" Someone asked shakily. 

Matt shrugged. He didn't know. 

The town wasn't there. Or, at least, it wasn't whole. The town lay in ruin. Part of it had been burned to the ground. 

"Did those - did that creature do all this?" Mimi asked in disbelief. 

"I can't see how. They were all busy with us." 

"Maybe there were more." 

"It doesn't matter." Mimi said, already jogging towards the ruins. She had a special place in her heart for the Gekomon and Otamamon. The others really had no choice but to follow. 

The town looked worse close up. It was totally abandoned and had been for a long time. The cobbler streets had been torn up and never repaired. Window panes had been shattered and never replaced. Garden's were over run by weeds. Some of the plants had choked and died, while others grew wild. 

They took TK to Shogungekomon's palace, which was empty like every where else, and lay him down on the floor of the throne room. 

"We have to find food and some help." Tai said, "We should split up into groups. Who stays? Who goes?" 

"I'm staying with TK." Matt stated, right off the bat. 

"I should stay. I have a little first-aid." Joe spoke up, "And so should Cody." 

Cody sighed. He disliked being left out or left behind just because he was the youngest. "I'm old enough to go." 

"I didn't mean that." Joe explained, "But if it was necessary Patamon and Armadillomn could digivolve and then DNA digivolve." 

"Oh." 

"Then it's agreed. Matt, Gabumon, Joe, Gomamon, Cody, Armadillomon and Patamon will stay with TK. The rest of us can look for food, helpful digimon and a TV to get us home." 

After leaving the palace, the twenty digidestined and digimon, despite their numbers, stuck close together, to the extent of stepping on each other's toes. As they walked over the crumbled cobbler, no one challenged them. Yet that wasn't as reassuring as it should have been. There was a sense of ill omen in the air. Faintly, and maybe this was in their imaginations, the Earth shifted beneath their feet. And from somewhere eyes peered. The digidestined and digimon couldn't control the shivers that ran up and down their spines, as deja vu hit. Davis and Yolei, Veemon and Hawkmon were reminded of the time when the Digimon Emperor, so different from the friend they now knew as Ken, had watched their every move on his monitors. But the older digidestined were brought back to an even darker chapter in digital history. It was the worst for Kari, who could remember both times visibly. 

They said little, as they passed by the ruins. They only opened their mouths to question what could possibly do this kind of damage but no one answered. It wasn't that they didn't know. There were possibilities but those possibilities were many and terrifying. Best not to think of them until it was absolutely necessary. 

They walked into a garden, ate as much as they could and filled their pockets and purses to the max, for the others back at the palace. 

It was here that Agumon stood on tippy-toe and whispered to Tai. "We're being followed." 

Tai gave a nod so small that it couldn't be detected from any length of distance. He had figured as much. Trying to look inconspicuous, Tai bent down to pick up a head of lettuce, no less than a foot from where Palamon had injected her roots and was soaking up important nutrients. As Tai plucked the vegetable up, he whispered something quickly into what he hoped was near Palamon's ear. Then they were off again. 

They found the TV just where they had left it but were disappointed to find the screen shattered and the set obviously broken. 

Izzy crouched down to see if there was any possibility at all of getting it operational again. Sadly, Izzy sighed. He was good at fixing things but to make a TV from scratch? That would take near forever. 

Palamon, who hadn't been paying much attention to Izzy's mutterings, decided to go into action. "Poison Ivy!" By the time she'd shouted out the words, she'd already shot out her finger vines and had ensnared the unfortunate stalker in the clutches of leaves and vines. 

"Oh, Palamon, "Mimi cried out, as she ran to the captive. "Don't choke him. It's only a poor Gekomon." 

Though Palamon did not let go completely, she did loosen her grip considerably. 

Gently, Mimi lifted the Gekomon into her lap. At first, the Gekomon was scared but passive and didn't try to get away. It looked up at Mimi with it's big, round eyes and asked, "Is your name Mimi?" 

Mimi smiled. It was always nice to be remembered. "Yes." 

The Gekomon went ballistic and not in a happy way. He started to fight Palamon's and Mimi's grips on him, all the while screaming, "Ghosts! Spirits! Ghosts!" He was terrified. 

It took a lot of pleading and soothing to get him to shut up. Finally, he shut his mouth but still looked warily at Mimi. 

"We're not ghosts." Mimi assured, extending a finger, "We're real. We're alive." 

Tentatively, Gekomon reached out, pinched Mimi's finger and quickly drew his hand back. 

"See? Real flesh and blood. See?" 

Gekomon nodded. 

Meanwhile, Sora was getting impatient. Since she and Biyo weren't exactly doing anything and it seemed a while before they'd be able to get any information out of the little Geko, Sora slipped away with Biyomon and decided to climb up to the top of the town's wall. If the others needed either of them, they'd still be within shouting distance. 

"Can you tell us why you thought we were ghosts?" 

Barely audible, Gekomon whispered, "Because the digidestined were destroyed, years ago." 

"Well, it couldn't be us. We're still here." 

"Shh, Davis." 

"Can you tell me what destroyed the digidestined?" 

Gekomon, paranoid, looked over his shoulder, as if expecting a bunch of evil digimon to come jumping out of the surrounding buildings and shadow. Hesitantly, Gekomon opened his mouth to speak. 

Just then Sora called down from the top of the wall. "Tai, you'd better get up here." 

It wasn't a question or even a suggestion. It was a full-blown order and Tai hit the stairs at a run, with Agumon hot on his heels. As his time as the digidestine's leader, he'd taught himself to hear what was hidden in others voices. Now he was scared by what he had heard in Sora's voice. Someone else might have heard the calm, cool, fake exterior. Tai heard that she was on the verge of panic, near hysterics, almost terror stricken. 

"Sora, what... oh, God." 

Kari who, worried, had followed her brother, could only gasp. 

The digimon seemed to have been struck dumb. 

Davis, who'd follow Kari to Hell and back, was the only one to speak. "Cool mountain." 

"Please tell me that's not what I think that is." Biyomon pleaded but no one could comfort her. It was truly there, a huge mountain, spiraled with cities, forests, water and some dark, depressing land of darkness. 

"How did we miss it?" Tai wondered aloud. Again, no answer. 

"Tai, I'm scared." Agumon said openly, knowing this was no time for masks. 

"So am I." Tai replied. 

Everyone's nervousness was rubbing off on Davis and Veemon and they, for once, kept quite. 

"Tai," Sora started, stopped and, after taking a deep breath to relax her nerves, started again, "Tai, do you have your telescope?" 

"Yes." 

"Take it out and see what's moving this way." 

Tai did as he was told and, after a moment of looking, put the telescope away. 

"Was it _them_?" 

Tai couldn't get the word to form on his lips, so he just nodded. And they ran. 

They ran like the wind. they ran down the stairs so fast that it was more like jumping, sometimes skipping as many as four or five steps at a time. They didn't seem to mind the odds that they could end up tumbling down. In fact, I'd doubt they'd have minded at all, if it got them down faster. 

They had to stop at the bottom, to catch their breaths and survey what had transpired in the few minutes they'd been up on the wall. Palamon was trying to comfort Mimi, who was still sitting in the dirt, sobbing silently. The Gekomon was nowhere to be seen. Tentamon, Ken, Yolei and Izzy were in a huddle, in the middle of some heavy debate. Hawkmon and Wormmon, feeling somewhat awkward and out of place, stood a few feet away. 

Sora crouched down next to her friend. "Mimi, where's Gekomon?" 

"Oh, he ran." She replied, between tears. "I told him to, for his own safety. He wouldn't have been safe with us. Do you know what he told me, before he left? He told me that it was the Dark Masters who destroyed us. It's like some bad dream. Oh Sora, it's starting all over again." 

Meanwhile, Davis and Veemon were eavesdropping on the 'smart squad'. Ken was speaking. "...but his theory never said anything about going back in time-" 

"Well, apparently he was never in the Digital World." Yolei hastily interrupted, "Anything can happen here." 

Davis turned to the two left out digimon. "What's going on?" 

"I believe," Hawkmon stated, in his best British accent, "they are discussing the finer points of time travel." 

"Ahh." Davis said with a nod and turned back to the debate. 

Izzy was speaking, "I have to agree with Yolei-" but was rudely interrupted by Tai. 

"Sorry, but we have to go. The Dark Masters are coming. I don't know what's going on or how it's happening. But we do have to go back to the palace and warn the others. We can debate later." 

Having said his bit, he turned and started to jog back to the palace. The others quickly followed. Their leader had spoken. 

Cody sat with Armadillomon on the floor of the palace throne room and watched TK intensely. Patamon lay snuggled close to TK's head. Cody watched as TK's chest rose and fell with each breath and Cody found himself faced with a dilemma. Should he tell Matt and Joe that TK was having trouble breathing. 

Joe, Gomamon and Gabumon were sitting, talking in hushed voices. Matt was pacing furiously and, even though he wasn't yelling, it sounded like it in the near silence of the great hall. 

_No, _Cody decided, _I won't tell. I don't want to get Matt any more angry than he already is and, besides, there's nothing anyone could do about it._

After a few more labored breathes from TK and some more paces from Matt, Cody found himself wishing the others would get back soon. He was worried. As if on cue, the others raced in. Tai, Agumon, Sora, Biyomon, Kari and Gatomon looked scared. Davis, Veemon, Hawkmon and Wormmon were confused and that made them nervous and irritated, especially Davis. The rest were in some sort of argument that didn't make sense to Cody in the least. 

Tai and Sora went over to Joe and Matt and were about to spill some bad news but Davis interrupted, "What's a Dark Master?" 

Before he and Davis were taken aside by Kari, Cody had seen a flash of hatred in Matt's eye. Then Sora put a restraining hand on Matt's shoulder and, after Matt blinked, the hatred was gone. But it still scared Cody. He'd only seen that look on one person before, TK, and he hoped he never saw it again. 

"Years ago, four years ago to be exact, us digidestined battled four evil digimon." Kari started, and the new digimon gathered with Davis and Cody to here they story. Ken and Yolei, however, were too deep in debate to notice. "They took over the DigiWorld, changed it to their own liking." Kari paused a moment, remembering things only she remembered, before going on. "It took nearly everything we had to get rid of them. And now, somehow, they're back." 

"Izzy," Tai said, just as Kari finished speaking. He'd had just told the other about the broken TV and the strange mountain. It had rendered everyone too stunned too comment. "What's going on here?" 

"Well, we haven't exactly figured everything out." 

"Whatever you got will have to do." 

_Tai sounds tired_, Cody noted. 

"Spill it, in a language we can understand please." 

"Okay, here goes." And the computer genius started to explain in the simplest terms possible, "We believe the creature we were battling somehow managed to travel back in time. From what Gekomon told us, we assume the period of time the creature traveled to was the Dark Masters era. It was in this time period that the time traveler succeeded in changing history and somehow caused our deaths. The only reason we are unaffected is that when the time traveler left this time it created a sub time bubble, which we were caught in. We are, in effect, unaffected by the time travellers changes, just as it is unaffected by its own changes." 

"Fascinating, Izzy. How do we fix it?" 

"I was getting to that. We can follow the time traveler's trail though time. We can go back in time. However, not all of us will be able to go back." 

"Why?" 

"Well, it's like this. Everything in the universe, even atoms, are slightly, slightly different from one another. It's a rule of the universe. If two perfectly identical atoms, say one from the present and one from the past, came into contact with each other, that natural, universal rule would be broken and a paradox would occur. This paradox could implode the universe. Or explode it. I'm not sure. Either way, I don't want to find out. So, the only ones who can go back in time, without the threat of destroying the universe, are Davis, Yolei, Cody, Ken, Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon and Wormmon because they weren't in the DigiWorld at the time in question and have no chance of bumping into their counterparts." 

"How will they get home?" Sora wanted to know. 

"We'll just back track through the time traveler's time tunnel, the same way we came." Yolei spoke up, "It'll be easy to do with my D-Terminal. They're just like mini computers" 

"Are you sure?" 

"Positive." 

"Are you sure you want to do this? You'd be going back into a dangerous time." 

The newer digimon and digidestined looked at each other and gave a nod. Yes, they were sure. 

"Okay, Joe, you and Matt can carry TK. If he-" 

"No, Tai." 

"What?" 

"I'm staying with TK, right here." 

"You can't be serious." 

"Izzy, I'm not really into this sci-fi-time-travel-thing, so get me if I'm wrong. If they change things in the past, this future doesn't happen." 

"If it succeeds" Izzy stressed the word succeed. 

"Izzy, I'd hate to say it but if this doesn't succeed, we haven't got a chance. Our digimon can't even go to ultimate." 

Tai sighed. "I don't mean to sound cold, but if you don't want to come, I can't make you. I can't make TK come either." 

"We're staying with Matt and TK." Gabumon spoke up and Patamon nodded. 

"I know. Good luck." Matt and Tai shook hands. Matt hugged Sora and Mimi and then kissed both Kari and Yolei on the cheek. "For Good luck" He explained. 

Then they left. Matt, Gabumon and Patamon watched their friends leave and said nothing to each other. They sat around TK, keeping a silent vigil, waiting. 

Matt had never been a patient person and, even now, he couldn't keep still. He was either gently rubbing TK's flushed cheek, or squeezing Gabumon's paw for support or mumbling song lyrics under his breath. 

They waited in silence until they heard a horribly familiar voice, "TK. TK. TK. Come out, come out, wherever you are." 

Matt sucked a breath in through his teeth. Puppetmon and he knew they were here. 

Despite the severity of the situation, Matt could find a sliver of irony in it. Puppetmon, the one Dark Master who Matt detested more that Piedmon, the one who had almost succeeded in breaking up the group, the one who had tried to take TK from Matt, the one who'd made Matt lose faith in himself, the only one Matt truly hated was going to be the one to finish Matt, and with him Patamon, Gabumon and TK, off. 

Matt considered dragging TK behind the throne, for protection but decided it wasn't worth the effort or noise that could reveal their position sooner. When Puppetmon came, they would not be hiding. 

But Puppetmon never entered the palace, let alone the throne room. He circled the building, calling them out to play and, when they didn't come out, called them nasty names. Then, when be became bored of that, began to attack the palace itself, "Puppet Pummel!" 

The whole palace shook and pieces of plaster rained down. Matt could see what Puppetmon was up to. This palace hadn't been built to stand earthquakes or wooden puppets come to life with really big mallets. Puppetmon wouldn't have to step foot inside the palace to get rid of the digidestined and digimon that were taken refuge there. He'd just bring the whole palace down on top of them. 

"Puppet Pummel! Puppet Pummel!" 

There was no time. No time to run. Not time to find a safe haven. No time to even digivolve, to fight. 

"Puppet Pummel!" 

Matt looked up and saw the last sight of his life, the roof and upper stories of the palace crashing down on him. 

The others ran all the way up the hill to the ridge, where they had first witnessed the ruined town, and turned just in time to watch in horror as the palace, the center point of the whole town, collapsed in on itself. 

Mimi started to sob quietly, as Palamon hugged her leg. The other digimon and digidestined looked on, stoned faced or in disbelief. 

"Izzy," the name came through clenched lips, holding back tears and wails of pain. 

"Yes, Tai." 

"If this time travel thingy works and everything gets fixed, none of this will happen, right?" 

"I hope so." 

Tai nodded stiffly, "I'm staying. You with me Agumon?" 

"Of course." 

"Me too." 

"If Mimi stays, so do I." 

"Me and Biyo are staying, right?" 

"I'd have it no other way." 

"What about us, Joe?" 

"We're standing our ground." 

"We're staying, too. Right, Gatomon?" 

"You bet." 

"No Kari." 

"Tai! You heard Izzy. I can't go back in time with the others. I want to fight with you." 

"I know, Kari, but if the Dark Masters get passed us, we'll need Nefertimon to back up Kabuterimon. Okay?" 

"Okay, Tai." Kari sighed. 

Tai hugged his sister, knowing full well that if Davis and the others failed, he'd never see her again. There was no way that four champions could win against four megas. They were just buying time. 

"I love you, Tai." 

"I love you, too. Now go, before the Dark Masters come." 

As Davis, Izzy, Cody, Kari, Yolei, Ken, Veemon, Armadillomon and Gatomon ran, Tentamon and Hawkmon flew and Wormmon rode in Ken's arms, they heard the digimon behind them digivolving. 

"Agumon digivolve to Greymon!" 

"Biyomon digivolve to Birdramon!" 

"Palamon digivolve to Togemon!" 

"Gomamon digivolve to Ikkakumon!" 

They raced to the spot where the time traveler (as they now referred to the creature) had disappeared. 

"Kari, digiterminal." Izzy ordered. 

Kari handed it over without a word and Izzy began to start typing away. 

They couldn't see the others, since they were obscured from view by a large pile of rocks, but they could hear the fight commence. It wouldn't be long now. 

"You'd better digivolve," Kari whispered to Tentamon and Gatomon, "but stay hidden. We don't want to let them know we're here until the last moment." 

The two digimon nodded and, as quietly as possible, digivolved. 

"Tentamon digivolve to Kabuterimon." 

"Gatomon armour digivolve to Nefertimon." 

Just then, Izzy managed to open the time tunnel and quietly ushered Cody, Armadillonmon, Ken and Wormmon and Veemon into it. Davis was about to pass through, when Izzy hissed, "Wait, Davis. Your goggles are Tai's. That might cause problems." 

"Oh, yeah. I guess I don't want to blow up the universe." He took off the goggles and handed them to Kari. 

"I'll keep them safe for you." She promised and, on impulse, gave Davis a peck on the cheek. 

Yolei rolled her eyes and pushed the momentarily stunned boy through the portal. Hawkmon quickly followed. 

"Yolei, I have a bit of last minute advice." 

"what Izzy?" 

"First, you're heading back to a particularly volatile time in history. Be careful. Second, try not to interact with anyone or anything. You're being there can change history, just like the time traveler, for better or for worse." 

From beyond the mountain of rocks came silence. The battle was over. 

"You'd better go. You know how to get back?" 

Yolei nodded, hugged Kari and walked backward into the tunnel. Izzy watched her disappear, shut down the tunnel and handed the D-terminal back to Kari. It was up to Yolei and the others now. 

"Ready to face the music?" 

He wasn't but Izzy nodded anyway. 

Together they stepped out and fought to their deaths. 

To be continued... 


	2. Under Extreme Pressure - Part One

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Under Extreme Pressure 

**

**Part One**

Yolei was falling, tumbling head over heels, and she wasn't exactly sure how she'd ended up in that position. She knew, as a matter of fact, that she'd started by walking backward into a horizontal time tunnel. Maybe when she'd tried to turn to face forward, she'd gotten mixed up. 

This journey through time seemed long, though Yolei didn't have a watch to clock it. _Too bad._ This could be a major scientific discovery. _Too bad I'll never be able to tell anyone about it._

After that, she began to think about her being the last through the tunnel. _ What if it closed early and I'm lost in time forever? Will I die?_ That was a disturbing thought. She didn't wan to die. She liked life, wanted to live, to do things. So, as she tumbled, she made a list of all the boys she wanted to kiss. Ken and maybe TK and maybe Izzy and even Davis.

_Yuck, did I just think that._

So, she discarded that list and started to make a knew one, which she titled **Things I'd Rather be Doing Right Now.** However, the first things on this list were the first four things from her previous list. She'd rather be kissing anyone, _Yes, even Davis._ then to be where she was. The fifth thing on her list was throwing up, which she suddenly realized she'd be doing on way or other, because the tumbling was making her nauseated. So, to settle her queasy stomach, she closed her eyes against the swirling colours and shapes. 

She didn't realized she'd exited the tunnel and was cannon balling down until she impacted. The landing forced that the air out of her lungs and winded her pretty badly. She gasped, only to choke on water. Her eyes shot open, only to be stung by salt. Panicked, Yolei raced to the light of day. She broke the surface, sputtering, as a shadow passed over head. She didn't realize Aquilamon had plucked her out of the water until they were several feet up in the air. Gathering what strength she could muster, she climbed up on to Aquilamon's back and lay there a moment, enjoying his warmth against her cold, wet, shivering body. 

"Yolei, are you alright?" Aquilamon asked, concerned. 

"I'm fine," Yolei forced herself to sit up and take stock of the situation. All of the digimon had digivolved. Stingmon and ExVeemon were in the air, with their respective digidestined. Submarimon was in the water, Cody sitting cross-legged on his digimon's back. Judging from the boys' dripping wet hair and sopping clothes, Yolei surmised she wasn't the only on who'd taken a dip in the ocean. 

And speaking of ocean that was all Yolei could see when she looked around, nothing but miles and miles of endless ocean. 

"Why would anyone want to come here?" Davis demanded, impatient. 

"Apparently the Time Traveler believed this place was connected with the digidestined." Ken looked to the others, "Do any of you know how?" 

They shook their heads. The truth was, they were fairly ignorant of the other digidestined past. They had never been told much and none of them thought to ask. Now that could cause problems. How were they suppose to preserve history if they didn't even know what that history was? 

"We should split up." Davis said, formulating a quick plan. "Yolei and Cody can go on way. Me and Ken can go the other. We should stay together, in case Stingmon and ExVeemon need to DNA digivolve." 

Davis' plan, though sound, brought on another problem they'd have to deal with. Without Gatomon and Patamon, neither Silphymon nor Shakkoumon would be coming to their rescue. 

No one liked the idea of splitting up but, at the time, it seemed like their best option. If they found the Time Traveler soon enough, it still might have been weak from its time travelling and previous defeats. If they found it soon enough, they could destroy it once and for all and be home in time for supper. But only if. 

***

Cody, Yolei, Aquilamon and Submarimon headed in the direction that, according to the compass on Cody's keychain, was west. The boys headed east. 

Occasionally, Yolei would look over her shoulder. The first time she looked, she could visibly see Ken and Davis, riding on Stingmon and ExVeemon's shoulders. The second time, she could no longer see the two human boys. On the third glance, Stingmon and ExVeemon were mere specks on the horizon. For the fourth and final time, Yolei saw no sign of either of them. 

Quite suddenly, she felt alone. True, Cody and Aquilamon were near but Cody was underwater and to communicate they had to use the D-terminal and Aquilamon didn't seem much in the mood for talk. 

_ I wish Kari were her,_ Yolei said to herself, _ Even if we don't have much in common, she'd at least talk to me. _

"Yolei," Aquilamon asked, "do you see that dark cloud?" 

"Cloud? What cloud? I don't see, oh..." her voice drifted off. 

_ It looks like a cloud, but it's too low in the sky and it's moving toward us. I should tell Cody_

The answer came back within a minute: 

** We've got something moving towards us, too. It could just be a school of fish but we should stay still until they pass, just in case.**

**Good Idea** Yolei wrote back. 

Yolei relayed the message and Aquilamon started hovering. 

Yolei squinted her eyes at the oncoming cloud. _ I wish I had a telescope._

Then she cursed aloud, as she remembered something else. 

"What is it, Yolei?" 

"I forgot to tell everyone about not interfering. I hope Davis has enough sense to stay out of history's way." 

"Why don't you tell them on your D-terminal?" 

"Of course. Silly me." Yolei began to type out her message and got interrupted halfway through. 

**HELP! SHARKS! ATTACKING! OXY**

That's all there was before the message just ended. 

"Aquilamon, Cody's in tro-" The words caught in Yolei's throat as she looked up at the approaching cloud, which really wasn't a cloud at all. It was a flock of rather nasty looking bird and they didn't look the least bit friendly. 

"Hang on." Aquilamon instructed, as he flapped his wings and gained altitude. 

Yolei, holding on to Aquilamon with on hand, she reopened her message to Davis and added a couple of words. She'd just sent it off when the flying creatures swarmed them. 

***

Ken and Davis were discussing some of the finer aspects of soccer. Well, no. Actually, they were arguing over who was the better at soccer when Davis' D-terminal began to beep. 

"Aren't you going to see who it is?" 

"It's probably Yolei." Davis said, grudgingly, pulling out his terminal and reading the message there. "See, I was right. It's Yolei." 

"What does she say?" 

"'Hi, Davis. Yolei here. Just writing to see how you guys are doing and to-'" 

"Hey Davis, you do a pretty good impersonation of Yolei." Ken interrupted. 

"Thanks. Hey! I wasn't impersonating Yolei!" Davis reached into his pocket and drew out a rumpled piece of paper (which just might have been his math homework), which he crumple and tossed at Ken. His aim was off and the paper ball landed in the ocean. (Which just might explain why Davis isn't doing so well in math.) 

Ken laughed, enjoying himself. Few people could bring the true Ken out and Davis happened to be one of the few, even if he wasn't so good in math. 

Davis continued to read the message from Yolei, deliberate making his voice sound deep, which only made Ken laugh louder. "'-and to remind you guys that anything we do in the past could affect the future. So, try not to interfere... ExVeemon! Stingmon! We have to turn around. The others are in trouble!" 

***

_ It's strange where you find peace,_ Gatomon thought, as she lay curled up in Kari's lap, _ Now if only Izzy would stop that confounded typing. _

The feline digimon cracked open an eye and, trying to sound indignant, said, "What's that noise? I was taking a cat nap and it woke me up." 

Izzy's reply was full of irritation. "I'll explain later." **Translation: Leave me alone!**

"Oh, c'mon." Tai said, in a tone that was dangerously close to a whine, "Do you think I'm too brainless to understand?" 

"Yes, but I'll tell you anyway." Then Izzy grinned, "Check it out." 

All the digidestined and digimon crowded around the laptop to see what had fascinated Izzy so. 

"What a cool screen saver." Sora observed, politely. 

"It's not a screen saver." 

"What is it then?" Mimi asked. 

"I connected to Whamon's hard drive, "Izzy explained, proudly, "and rerouted his sensory information to _my_ computer." 

Patamon flew up behind Izzy, "Rerouted?" 

"In other words, what you are seeing on the screen is exactly what-" 

"What's that?" Matt interrupted, not realizing those two words (Well, three words if you count contractions as two words.) marked a change of destiny. 

"What's what?" 

"That." Matt leaned over and tapped at something in the upper right corner of the screen, "Right there." 

Izzy squinted, "I don't know. One moment, I'll zoom in." 

Biyomon gasped, "It's a digimon and it's being attacked!" 

"We have to help it." 

"Do I need to remind you, Sora, that we're running from the Dark Masters. We don't have time to pick up passengers." 

"I agree with Matt. We don't need anymore enemies." 

"I can't believe you two. We're suppose to be digidestined. How can we save the world if we're not willing to save a single digimon?" 

"Don't be such a coward, Joe." Gomamon spoke up, "A relax a little while you're at it." 

"You know Sora's right." Gabumon said simply. 

All the digimon and digidestined, even Joe and Matt, nodded in agreement. 

"Whamon," Sora called upward, "You hear that?" 

"I'm already on my way." Whamon replied with a chuckle, "We'll have that little guy safe in no time at all." 

***

Submarimon and Cody, especially Cody, were in trouble. The sharks had been faster than expected and had surrounded Submarimon before he knew what was happening. At first, the sharks just boxed them in and blocked them from surfacing. Then the sharks attacked, going for the oxygen tanks. 

Submarimon cried out in pain and Cody watched in horror as the tanks leaked precious oxygen, which raced to the surface a bubbles. He decided then he'd better call Yolei. He got half way through the message when one of the sharks rammed Submarimon. Cody's D-terminal flew out of his hands and landed somewhere near Submarimon's nose, as Cody rolled on his side and sent his cranium against the wall with a sickening SMACK. 

Cody lay there, momentarily stunned. He could hear the fighting around him but it sound so far away. 

"Cody, are you alright?" Submarimon asked, urgently. 

"I'm fine." Cody reassured and tried to sit up, blatantly forgetting he was inside Submarimon and there wasn't room to sit up. Ow. 

Whether it was the beating his noggin had taken or the deprivation of oxygen, Cody's eyes refused to focus. He groped, half blind, for his D-terminal, not totally sure what Yolei would be able to do once she received the message, assuming Cody would have the chance to send it a all. 

He glanced out the window and there, right on the other side of the window, was a shark. If sharks could sneer, this one was defiantly sneering. 

Cody clutched his D-terminal in his hands, trying to remember how to work it. He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Didn't work. Just made him dizzy. And black dots, everywhere. He was hallucinating. Out of the window, there was a big whale. It was Whamon, coming to rescue him. Cody laughed without humor. _Now I'm going crazy._ Cody thought before passing out. 

To Be Continued... 


	3. Under Extreme Pressure - Part Two

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Under Extreme Pressure 

**

**Part Two**

Sixteen digimon and humans stood around motionless, silent digimon they'd rescued, not sure what to do. It looked like a strange cross between a mini submarine and a torpedo. Everyone was a bit soaked, seeing that, along with bring in the digimon, Whamon had let in tonnes of water. They were all wondering if soggy clothes for the rest of the day had been worth it. 

Matt tapped the metal exterior with his foot and jumped back as the hatch opened, to reveal the unconscious body of a young boy. They all gasped, except Sora and Tai, who pulled him out and checked to see if he was breathing. He was. 

With the boy safely out of the hatch, the strange digimon dedigivolved into a smaller creature, that somewhat resembled an armadillo. It crawled over and laid it's head on the boy's chest, calling softly, "Cody. Cody. Cody." 

Izzy immediately began to look up information on this digimon and was somewhat confounded when he couldn't locate any information. 

Meanwhile, Tai had moved forward and was gently prying a rectangle shaped box out of the boy's grip. It was some sort of mini laptop. He put the computer aside for Izzy and, since no one objected, began to go through the boy's pockets. 

"What are you doing, Tai?" Matt asked, sharply. 

Tai continued to go through the pockets, pulling out interesting looking stones, candy wrappers and a device that strangely resembled their own digivices, deliberately avoiding Matt's question and his cold stare. 

"What are you doing Tai?" 

"None of your business." 

A hand clamped down on Tai's wrist and roughly yanked his back, so the two boys were nose to nose. "it's bad enough that he's unconscious but you're stealing from him, too." 

"I'm not stealing. I'm checking to make sure he isn't dangerous." 

"He's a little kid, Tai. How dangerous can he be?" 

"How should I know? Besides, you didn't even want to rescue him." 

"That was before I knew the kid was inside." 

"Davis. TK. Quit fighting. It's okay." a young, raspy voice, wary but steady, said. Tai and Matt looked down to see the unconscious boy was no longer unconscious. 

***

"Davis. TK. Quit fighting. It's okay." 

Even though Cody hadn't known what the two boys had been arguing over, he'd told them to stop anyway. He hated arguing. But when they had looked, or rather glared, down at him, Cody could feel his spine tingle and his breath caught in his throat. This was all wrong. 

Sure, Davis had goggles but his hair was not his hair. And where was TK's hat? And when did TK start wearing sleeveless shirts. Where was Davis' bomber jacket? 

Cody sat up, confused and disoriented. Armadillomon was beside him and, using a gesture he'd picked up from his human friends, raised a forelimb to his mouth, indicating Cody should be silent. 

Cody nodded understanding, his memory slowly returning. 

_Oh, yeah. We went back in time. Got attacked by those weird sharks. Where am I?_

Frantically, he began to look around. He was in a big cavern of some sort, that smelt oddly like fish, and around him was gather sixteen human and digimon. Though the humans looked vaguely familiar, the digimon were very familiar. 

_ Oh..._ If Cody had known any profanity, he surely would have uttered it. 

There was Tentamon, next to a short, red head ('Izzy', Cody realized with a jolt) typing away at a laptop, muttering on about how the digimon had to be here somewhere. A girl dressed in pink from head to toe was next to a dorky boy with big glasses (Mimi! Joe!), sitting with Palamon and Gomamon. And two kids, about a year younger than Cody himself (Cody couldn't believe it. TK and Kari!), Gatomon and Patamon standing beside them. 

"Look, I don't know who Davis is but I want to know how you know my brother?" 

Cody turned his attention back to the boys who he now identified as Tai and Matt. 

"TK's a friend of mine." Cody explained, truthfully. "He looks a bit like you." 

Suddenly a flood of questions came all at once: 

"Who are you?" 

"Where are you from?" 

"Why am I unable to identify your digimon?" 

"How old are you?" 

"Is this a digivice?" 

"Do you like mushrooms?" 

"Stop interrogating the boy." A girl with a blue hat-helmet said sharply, sitting beside Cody. He'd missed her before because she'd been standing behind Tai and had been hidden by his hair. 

"I'm Sora." She said, smiling. Her smile has a calming effect and Cody found himself relaxing ever so slightly. 

"I'm Cody" And then, for lack of anything better to say, "Do you play tennis?" 

Sora laughed. "No, too boring. I like soccer better." 

*** 

Davis and Ken didn't say much as they flew across the sky. Just, 

"There they are! And something following them!" 

And, when they got close enough to see Yolei paler than a sheet, 

"Yolei, what's wrong?" 

To which they got this answer, "A whale! A whale swallowed Cody!" 

"What do you mean a whale swallowed Cody?" 

Yolei glared, "What part didn't you understand, genius? A big whale came up and swallowed Submarimon whole." 

"Are they..." 

"How should I know! It's not like he spit them back out or anything." 

Ken hung back, not wanting to get involved. Instead he mused to himself, _ Yolei can change her moods on the turn of a dime. One minute she's sad, the next she want's to bash Davis' head in. I feel sorry for the guy who falls in love with her._

***

Back inside Whamon, the digidestined were being relatively quiet. They'd given up questioning the boy, as known as Cody. They hadn't managed to get a heck of a lot out of him, only the basics. His name was Cody and his digimon was Armadillomon. He's been alive for nine years, practiced kendo in his spare time and disliked mushrooms. Also he had a talent for evading questions by answering with a question or just refusing to answer, pretending he hadn't heard or didn't understand. He seemed reluctant to lie. 

Armadillomon was just as tight lipped. Weather it was because he was normally shy or because boy and digimon held a shared secret. 

Suddenly, Biyomon's head perked up, "What's that?" 

Whatever small bit of noise that had been going on stopped abruptly, as everyone listened to the faint yet steady sound of a propeller. 

"It sound like Divermon!" 

No one moved, nor dared to breath for that matter, as the sound of the propeller came closer, came right over top of them and then, after what was a near eternity, moved. They let out a collective sigh of relief. 

"We're not out of danger yet. You'll have to stay-" 

"It's coming back!" Biyomon interrupted quickly. True, it was coming back, getting louder and louder and then stopping. There was a second of pure tension and then... 

"Striking Fish!!" 

"They've found us!" 

***

_ Don't look back. Don't look back. _ Ken told himself sternly, _ I spend too much time looking back. Look forward. Like Davis and Stingmon and Yolei. Don't look back. _

Of course, few people take their own advice and Ken was no exception. 

"Oh Shit." 

"Ken, language. Lady present." Yolei scolded. Then she looked back over her shoulder and echoed Ken sentiment. 

"What are you two... ah, man." 

The three humans looked back grimly, not only at the gaining flock but also at the sharks that were jumping out of the water. They were breaking apart and then reforming as flying creatures to join the flock. 

"What's going on Ken?" Stingmon asked, trying to look over his shoulder. 

"Nothing to worry about." Ken assured, hoping he sounded calmer than he felt, "You just concentrate on flying." 

"I think I see land ahead." ExVeemon reported. 

Davis squinted, "Where?" 

"It's there. Trust me." 

"Why is it that whenever you say that I suddenly want to throw up?" 

"Oh, very funny, Yolei." 

"Thank you. I thought so." 

"Are there trees?" Ken asked, ignoring the exchange between ExVeemon and Yolei. 

"I think so. Why?" 

"No reason," _other than that we are going to need them to hide pretty soon._ But Ken didn't say that. 

***

"Watch out!" Izzy warned, somewhat unnecessarily. 

Something hit Whamon in the side and everything shook. 

"We're being attacked. Hang on everyone. I've got an idea." 

There was the sound of a thousand bubbles being blown and then, if you listened carefully, the sound of one very confused Divermon. 

Silently, Whamon slipped away from the scene of the crime. 

Cody and Armadillomon sat back and watched the others. He'd never seen the older kids so scared before. Where were those competent young adults Cody knew, who'd face terrible odds and still come out on top? Wherever they were, they weren't present. Was that really Matt squeezing the living daylight out of TK, who, in turn, had Patamon clamped in his arms? Was Mimi on the verge of breaking down and crying? And Palamon, too? Sora looked at her wits end. She wanted to comfort her friends but didn't seem to know how. Kari and Gatomon had found themselves huddled in a corner. Tai was pacing, acting frustrated and angry but Cody suspected he was really scared inside. And Joe, Cody's personal mentor, the guy who always had the right answer to every thing, seemed at a lose of what to do. Even Gomamon lacked that one joke needed to lighten the mode. 

_They're just like me._ Cody realized slowly, _ They're just like the rest of us._

Izzy was hunched over his computer, his face sent in a frown. "According to the audio sensors, there are three... no, four... wait, five, six, seven-ten more behind us. Some of those sharks are following, too. Prodigious! Some of the sharks are morphing into Divermon." 

Tai yanked the laptop away from Izzy to get a better look for himself. "Izzy, I don't know what that word means but this is definitely not prodigious. This is bad." He tossed the laptop back to Izzy and ignored the death glare he received. "That's it! I'm tired of running. C'mon Whamon, let's go up to the surface and fight!" 

"Right!" Apparently, Tai's impatience was rubbing off. 

"Well, Whamon?" 

"Let me try one more thing." The digimon replied, "Hopefully, it will work." 

"What do you mean hopefully in will work?" 

"That's what the Captain of the Titanic said." Mimi whined and no one bothered to point out that the Captain of the Titanic had said no such thing. "And what if it doesn't work? What's plan B?" 

_ Yes, _ Cody asked himself, _ what is plan B? We can't fight, not with all those extra sharks. I have to do something._

"Can you armor digivolve?" 

"I could if I could get something to eat. Why?" 

"The only reason those sharks are chasing us is because you and I are here, maybe if we leave, they'll follow us." 

"I doubt that, Cody. If those sharks are who we think they are, they're after the original digidestined." 

"Then what should I do?" Cody couldn't keep back the whine completely. He didn't like to whine, it was so childish but it had just slipped out and he hated-_No, extremely dislike,_ he corrected himself,- it. 

He felt like his head was going to explode. He had to think up something, and fast. But he couldn't stand being in charge, having to make choices, make mistakes. That's why they had a leader. That's why they had Davis. 

_ Oh, think, think,_ Cody ordered himself, _We'll eventually have to go to the surface. And we'll have too fight. More people on our side, the better. _

"What are you doing, Cody?" 

"Trying to contact the others. Oh, if I'd been thinking straight, I would have done that first thing." 

"Don't worry, Cody. You're doing it now." 

"Oh, c'mon Davis, answer, you idiot!" 

Suddenly, from outside came a scream and a muffled explosion. Cody's head shot up in surprise, "What was that?" 

"One of the Divermon just... exploded." 

"That was Whamon's plan all along. They couldn't take the pressure." 

"And the shark's" 

"Aren't following." 

Cody sigh, glad one problem had been taken out of his hands, and went back to trying to contact the others. "Yolei, why don't you answer. You can't be in as much trouble as I am." 

***

"It bit me!" Yolei yelled, as she cradled her injured arm close to her body. 

"Did it break the skin?" Ken yelled back, as Stingmon dodged the swooping birds. They were all over, the tiny devils. 

"No, I don't think so." 

"Then stop whining." Davis yelled, "And hurry up, we're almost there." 

***

Everyone was crowded around Izzy and his computer, admiring the view and praising his idea for using Kari's whistle for SONAR. 

_Everyone,_ Tai noted, _except that kid and his digimon._

He was sitting be himself, scowling over that mini laptop of his. 

_Okay, let's try Yolei again,_ Cody said to himself but before he could press the send button, his D-terminal was ripped out of his hands. 

"Hey!" Cody protested and looked up. _Great,Tai. Just what I need._ "May I please have my D-terminal back?" Cody asked, as politely as possible and then mentally added, _without breaking it._

Tai ignored him, "So, what were you doing?" 

"Trying to contact my friends." 

"They wouldn't be the Dark Masters, would they?" Tai was trying to be suave and failed miserably. 

"No, they would not. Her name is Yolei." Cody grabbed for his D-terminal but Tai held it out of reach. _ Oh, I so don't have time for this._

"Yolei, that's a nice name." Sora commented, coming up behind Tai, "What's she like?" 

Cody shrugged, "Nice, I guess. Wears glasses, long hair, likes computers, flies around on her giant bird digimon." 

"Really." Sora said, standing on her tippy toes, trying to pry the D-terminal out of Tai's hand. He would let her. "She your girlfriend." 

"No way." 

"Uh-huh." 

"Truth." 

"If you say so. What about your other friends?" 

"Sora, does this have a point?" Tai injected. 

"I'm trying to prove to you that Cody is our friend, not our enemy. Now, give back..."Sora faltered and looked to Cody for help, "What is it called?" 

"D-terminal." 

"Now, give back the D-terminal." 

"Not until I'm done with it." 

"NOW, Taichi Kamiya." 

"Alright, alright." Grudgingly, he returned the D-terminal and went off. 

"Thank-you." 

"No prob. Now, your friends. Any besides this Yolei?" 

"Davis and Ken, I guess." 

"And that TK guy you mentioned." 

"Right." 

"Anyone else? That seems like a lot of guys." 

"..." _ Oh great, how am I going to answer without lying._

"I..um,-" 

Suddenly, something rammed into Whamon's side. 

"It's Metal Seadramon!" 

To Be Continued... 


	4. Under Extreme Pressure - Part Three

(Type a title for your page here) **

Under Extreme Pressure

**

**

Part Three

**

"We're almost there." Whamon called down, his chuckle gone. "Just a little further, a little further." 

Inside, the walls shock and the passengers were jostled around as Whamon squeezed into the increasingly smaller cavern. Near panic and motion sickness were painted clearly on the passengers faces, as they could hear MetalSeadramon come closer and closer. 

And then.... a strange, welcome yet unnatural silence. They had reached the surface, alive. 

"Is everybody okay?" Tai asked, as digimon and humans crawled out of Whamon into the bright sunlight. They were in the mouth of some sort of river, with land on two sides of them and a dam on the third. There were trees where they could find food and shelter. 

"Where-where are we?" Izzy asked, clutching his laptop to his chest. 

"The sun's so bright.' Tai said, awed, like it was the first he'd been outside before in his life. The others nodded in agreement. They understood. You never appreciated something so much until you lost it. 

"I feel I've been underwater so long, I might never take a bath again." Matt joked and everyone laughed, partly because the joke had been funny, partly from relief. 

"Mind telling me what's so funny." A sharp voice broke into the laughter, turning it to cries of surprise as MetalSeadramon broke the surface. All over the bay, Divermon and the time traveling sharks popped up, surrounding Whamon. 

"How can it be?" Sora asked nobody in particular. 

MetalSeadramon, egotistic dramon he was, assumed she was talking to him, "It was only a matter of time before you came up for air. Now you're going down with the ship. 

"Everyone, hold on." Whamon warned as he began to swim in a tight circle, "Tidal Wave!" He swam faster and faster, tighter and tighter, 'round and 'round, creating waves that got bigger and bigger, washing away the Divermon and sharks. 

"Should I?" Agumon asked, as Whamon began to slow down. 

"Sure, go for it." 

_Go for what?_ Cody wondered. 

Tai turned to his group. Some, like Joe, were still holding on and others, like Matt, were already on their feet. "While Agumon gets their attention, let's cross over a prepare for battle." 

"Aye-aye." 

"Gomamon and I will stay here and bring up the rear." 

Sora turned on Joe, "Stop being such a coward!" 

"Here I go! Agumon warp digivolve to WarGreymon!" 

_ Oh, Wow._ Cody was stunned speechless at Agumon's transformation into a mega. He watched with wide eyes as WarGreymon flew upward to attack MetalSeadramon. 

"Kid, c'mon." Joe called, "You and your digimon can ride with us." 

Cody snapped himself out of his daze. Biyomon, Tentamon, Gabumon and Gomamon had already digivolve and were headed for shore. 

"Hold on to Ikkakumon's fur like this." Joe instructed, "And stay away from the horn." 

Cody did as he had been told and they headed toward the sandy beach. He was thankful they didn't have to worry about the Divermon and the sharks anymore. 

"Striking Fish!" 

"Shark Bite!" 

Okay, so maybe Cody spoke too soon. 

"Harpoon Torpedo! Harpoon Torpedo! Harpoon Torpedo!" The missiles rained down toward the turquoise water. Somewhere in the sky chrome digizoid metal clashed against chrome digizoid metal as the two mega's battled it out. Arrows shot across the sky and frustrated sharks jumped out to bite anyone foolish enough to get in their way. 

In dodging the attacks, Joe accidentally knocked Cody off Ikkakumon . Luckily, the water only came up to Cody's waist and he could easily wade to shore. Unluckily, one of the sharks spotted him and headed for this vulnerable prey. 

"Diamond Shell!" There was clash of armadillo armor against the sharp triangles that made up the shark's skin. 

"Poison Ivy!" Green vines wrapped themselves around Cody's waist and yanked him forward, up on to the sand and out of harm's way. 

As he collapsed on the sand, Cody heard behind him, "Ikkakumon digivolve to Zudomon!" 

"Thank-you, Palamon. And, you to Armadillomon." Cody muttered. 

He didn't hear Palamon say, "Who do you know my name? I never told you?" 

Cody could hear, however, the battle being waged behind him but he didn't move. Something in him had gone over the edge. It just didn't add up anymore. Part of him gave up. Part of him thought he was already dead. Another part reasoned he was in the weirdest dream of his life. Yet another part refused any of this was happening. Only the fifth part told him to get up and help. But that fifth part was so small and so weak, he just closed his eyes, lay still and listened. 

He listened as MetalSeadramon ripped apart the landscape with his 'River of Power' and WarGreymon retaliated with a 'Terra Force'. Zudomon's 'Vulcan Hammer' went up against 'Striking Fish' after 'Striking Fish', 'Shark Bite' after 'Shark Bite'. And then... 

"Twin Horn!" 

Cody's eyes flashed open. He knew only one digimon with that attack. Cody looked up and there was Aquilamon, little more than ten feet away. 

Yolei jumped down and embraced Cody in a bear hug, "You're alive. You're alive! YOU'RE ALIVE!!" 

Joe was on shore by then, with everyone else, minus Izzy, Gatomon, Tai and Kari who were still on Kabuterimon , cheering WarGreymon on. "Is everyone okay?" He asked but everyone ignored him. 

Sora came over to Cody and Yolei. "Who are you?" she wanted to know. 

"Yolei's my name, digidestiny is the game." 

Sora cracked a smile, "Oh, the girl with the giant bird, right?" 

"What have you been saying about me?" Yolei demanded. 

Cody could only shrug and smile. He didn't say a word but his eyes conveyed deep meaning. He'd missed them all so much. 

"No time for that." Davis yelled as he ran over the beach towards them, Ken a close second. "Those _things_ are coming fast." Then, to Ken, "Ready?" 

"Ready." 

"ExVeemon!" 

"Stingmon!" 

"DNA digivolve to Paildramon!" 

Someone said, "Wow." 

Someone else gasped. 

Another someone mentioned something about WarGreymon being caught in MetalSeadramon's jaws. But there was no time to sort it all out, because they were under attack. 

***

They were everywhere. Tiny birds, the size of a grown man's hand. They swarmed the digimon and digidestined at the beach, pulling out hair, ripping clothing, tearing skin and going after any and all unprotected eyes. The birds were swooping all around them, blocking off vision, so it was difficult to see what was going on between MetalSeadramon and WarGreymon. 

Ken caught a glimpse of Whamon leaping out of the water to attack MetalSeadramon. 

Yolei thought she heard MetalSeadramon, "River of Power." 

Cody later remembered how his blood ran cold when he heard Tai scream, "Whamon!" 

In the last seconds of the fight, Davis escaped the swarm to witness the destruction of MetalSeadramon. It was the most magnificent and the most horrific sight he'd ever seen. 

***

They gathered around the beached Whamon, trying not to look at the gashing hole in his side. With the destruction of MetalSeadramon, the Divermon and the Time Traveler had fled. The digimon had dedigivolved to their rookie forms except the three that were now Minomon, DemiVeemon and Koromon. 

"Digidestined," Whamon whispered, "please, save this world." 

And they watched, as the digimon known as Whamon broke apart and flew up into the sky. The children's pleas of, "Don't go." could not stop the process. 

"Whamon." TK was on the verge of tears, "Where did he go?" 

"Look, there, everybody." Izzy pointed. 

"It's happening to MetalSeadramon, too." 

"They're floating in the sky." Sora's voice held a mixture of awe and horror. 

"And look," Davis added, 'most of it's heading for that strange mountain I saw before." 

"But," Cody put in, "some of it is following those birds." 

"What does it mean?" Yolei wondered aloud. 

She wasn't expecting a reply but Ken answered anyway, "I don't know but, somehow, it feels important." 

To be continued... 


	5. Playing Puppetmon's Games - Part One

(Type a title for your page here)

**Playing Puppetmon's Games**

**

Part One

**

The three remaining dark masters watched as the oceans of the Digiworld dried up to digital dust, an amazing feat even in the eyes of the Dark Masters. 

"Well, you don't see that everyday." Piedmon commented, seemingly unconcerned. But, despite his cool exterior, his mind burned with unanswered questions. Who were these new humans? And what had been those creatures that had been fighting against the digidestined? They were not any digimon the demented clown recognised. However, that hardly meant anything. And that bothered Piedmon because it changed the equation. And changing the equation, changed the predictability. And, if the predictability changed, Piedmon might not win. That was not acceptable. 

Beside Piedmon, Puppetmon jumped to his feet, eager for fun. He, like everyone else in the observatory, was nervous and uneasy but, like everyone else, he'd deny it to his dying breath. This was a room of winners, who did not think of losing. It wasn't in their mission statement. 

"Metal Seadramon out. Puppetmon in." 

"Not so fast, my wooden friend." 

The Dark Masters turned their heads to shadows where a mysterious figure stood wearing the darkness as a velvet cloak. 

"Who are you?" One demanded. 

The creature smiled. "An ally." It said and stepped into the light. 

***

_ Ah, the calm before the storm. The pride before the fall. The celebration before the funeral. It's a train crash in slow motion. The result is unavoidable but I am unable to prevent it._ Ken gave a wiry, humourless smile at the imagery his mind created. _ I should be a poet. _

The older digidestined were celebrating their victory, hollow thing that it was. To anyone unfamiliar with such situations, it may have seemed cruel to cheer when a good friend and ally had died only minutes prior. But Ken knew they didn't do it out of cruelty. It was a survival mechanism, delaying remorse until a place and time when it could be properly dealt with. 

_ They're still all pumped with adrenal. _

The older digidestined and digimon were gather together and their seemed to be a small confrontation between Tai and Matt going on. Obviously, the survival mechanism was not fool proof. Or, perhaps, maybe fighting was a way of dealing with grief. 

Around him, Ken's friends from his own time were milling around, not wanting to get involved and not quite sure what to do next. Usually at this point, they'd go home, eat supper, have a bath and go to bed. The next morning they'd wake up, refreshed. But that wasn't possible here. With all the water dried up, there wasn't even water to drink, let alone bathe in. 

_ Though,_ Ken assured himself, _We can probably drink dew off the leaves._ He'd heard of people who were lost in the woods doing that. 

Shouting from up river (or, rather, riverbed, as there was no longer any water to make up a river), pulled Ken out of his musings. The tiny confrontation between Tai and Matt had turned into a major one between all the old digidestined and digimon, complete with yelling, screaming, threats, crying and pushing. 

The newer team held back, wide eyes open. They'd never, ever seen such a display before. The digidestined were acting like, well, the children they were. Everyone was too stunned too talk, except Yolei who urgently kept suggesting they leave. 

It was Sora who looked over. And it was Sora who reminded here friends of the new strangers. Maybe she was trying to remind her group of their manners. Maybe she wanted to draw their attention to other things. Sora had a tendency to work in unusual ways. 

There disagree meant forgotten, they crowded around the new people and began to clobber than with questions. 

"Who are you?" 

"Where are you from?" 

"What digimon are those?" 

Having been interrogated enough for one day, Cody sneaked away over to the sand monument Mimi and Palamon had created. There were four separate mounds of wet sand, each with a neat little cross planted in the middle. 

"This is for Whamon and this one is Piximon's. That's for Chuumon and that's for Wizardmon." Mimi explained, upon seeing Cody's confused expression. 

"What about MetalSeadramon?" 

"What about him?" 

"Does he have a memorial?" 

"Why would I make _him_ a memorial? He was evil." 

"But he was a digimon, a living creature that must have had a heart." 

"Nothing evil can have a heart." 

This conversation came to an abrupt end when Tai called out, "Mimi, Palamon, get over here. You too, kid We've got to find a place to spend the night. Hurry up." 

Mimi and Palamon got up but Cody found himself staying behind. He was positive every creature had a heart, even evil digimon. It didn't seem right, to just leave. 

"Cody, c'mon." This time it was Davis. 

"Coming." Cody called back, quickly gathering together a pile of damp sand. Lacing the time and the material, Cody used stones and arranged them in a unique design to mark the spot. 

"Cody, the others are leaving us behind." 

"One minute Armadillomon." After offering a short prayer, Cody got to his feet and rushed to catch up with his friends. 

***

They'd chosen a campsite that, to Davis at least, looked like another part of the forest. But it must have had some special significance because Sora had insist and Tai had readily agreed. Most everyone else was too tired to care. So, when someone suggested gathering some food for supper, Davis had been the first to volunteer his and Vee's services. It was partly because he was hungry but mostly because he wanted to get away from Tai. They were seriously butting heads. It was all stupid little stuff and Davis was pretty sure everyone else wouldn't believe him, but it felt like, well, Tai was stepping on his turf. 

_I guess there can only be one leader._ Davis thought, _ I just need some time to get my head straight. Besides, I am hungry. How hard can it been?_

Harder than Davis had thought, as it turned out. He assumed that Veemon would know the edible plants from the poisonous ones, forgetting that Veemon had been asleep for the passed digimillennium or so and had been living on pizza, pie and pop since meeting his digipartner. 

"What about those?" Davis asked, pointed to a patch of strangely coloured mushrooms, "Can we eat those?" 

Veemon shrugged. 

"You're a lot of help." Davis bent down and picked one of the fungus, bringing it to his mouth. _ If I die or start trippin' then I'll know I shouldn't eat these._ Davis reasoned. 

"I wouldn't eat that." 

Davis dropped the mushroom in surprise and looked up. _Oh great, TK_ "Shouldn't you be back at camp? 

"If you eat those, you forget." TK pointed out. 

"I knew that." Davis reached out of bunch of berries. 

"Uh-huh." 

"What's wrong with these?" 

"They give you diarrhea." 

"Can't you eat anything here?" 

"Sure." TK said but didn't offer anymore help. 

Not knowing what else to do, Davis reached over to pick a flower blossom. 

"Cold." 

_Oh, it's that's the game you want to play, you little twerp._ Davis straightened and walked three paces to his left. 

"Warmer." 

He reached out to a bush... 

"Getting warmer." 

...And touched a berry. 

"Cold." 

Davis touched a leaf. 

"Colder." 

"C'mon, TK." Davis protested, "I don't want to be here all night. Give me a hint." 

The eight year old thought for a moment before saying, "It's on the bush but it's not the berries or the leaves." 

Davis turned back to the bush, frowning, not wanting to admit he was stumped by the kid's riddle. "The bark?" Davis guessed, weakly. 

TK smiled and loped over to begin to peel the bark off the bush. 

Davis looked doubtful;. "You eat bark?" 

TK again looked thoughtful. "I guess you could but we usually boil it in water and drink the tea." 

"Does it taste good?" 

TK made a face. "It tastes horrible." 

"Then why are we gathering it? "Veemon asked. As far as he was concerned you didn't eat things that weren't tasty. 

"Joe likes it." 

Davis rolled his eyes. It figured. Not that Davis knew Joe well or anything but what could you expect from someone Cody idolised, no offence to either Cody or Joe. 

Davis turned his back to the bush and began to walk deeper into the forest. Veemon followed. After a moment, TK dumped his bark and rushed to catch up. 

"Let's find something both safe and tasty. Now, hot or cold?" 

***

"Cody, not those!" 

The boy stood motionless, his hand hovering over the berries. 

Sora ran over. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell," she apologised, "but those are deadly poisonous." 

Cody jerked his hand away. 

"Don't worry. They're only poisonous if you eat them." Sora say down on a pile of conveniently placed rocks, "Biyo! Armaddilomon! We're going to have something to eat!" Sora yelled to the two digimon, then to Cody, "Sit down. You look tired." Cody sat down beside Sora, very tentatively, like she'd yell if he sat down in the wrong spot. 

"Don't have you walk on eggshell here." Sora assured, digging around in her helmet and pulling out a handful of natural goodies and handing them to Cody. 

"Hey, what about us?" Armadillomon said, lumbering in with Biyomon perked on his back. 

"Biyomon, you are getting lazy. You should have flown Armadillomon over, instead of getting a ride." 

Cody inspected the berries Sora had given him carefully. "These look exactly like the ones I tried to pick." 

"They come from a separate bush thought. These are choke cherries. The leaves are different." 

"You sure?" 

"Of course she's sure." Biyomon piped up, as she took her share of berries and seeds. "Sora knows everything there is to know about plants. She's an expert." 

"Biyo!" 

"Well, it's true." 

Cody tentatively took a berry and stick it in his mouth. His lips puckered and his eyes started to water. "It's sour." 

Sora giggled. "Sorry. I guess I'm more use to them." 

"Let me have some." Armadillomon insisted, so Cody gave him half-a-dozen. After a moment of thoughtful chewing, Armadillomon pronounced, "I like you mom's sushi better." 

"You always say that." 

"Your mom makes the best sushi ever." 

"So, your mom's a good cook?" Sora asked. "Matt's not that bad either." 

"Matt cooks?" 

"Hard to believe, huh?" 

"A little." 

"Don't be surprised. We all have a side of us that doesn't often show. Like you, I doubt you are as young as you look." 

Cody tried to hide his blush. 

"Tai and the others from my group don't realise, though I'm sure your friends do. You're much older than you look and you're use to being treated like it." 

"How did you know?" 

Sora shrugged. "I'm sure. It's almost like I've met you before. Are you an only child?" 

"Yes." 

"So's Izzy. He's pretty matured and he's an only child. Then again, so's Mimi. But I think she'll grow out of it." 

"I think so too." 

"Matt and Tai are older brothers, so don't be upset they treat you like a little kid. They'll be that way until _they_ think you've proved yourself. And Joe, he's a little brother who, because he's the oldest, ended up big brother to eight younger girls and boys. And that's not including the digimon. Joe's a little off with everyone. " 

"What about you?" 

"Me? I am the younger sister to three, count 'em three, older brothers. Triplets, no doubt." 

"Really?" 

"Yep. But they live with my dad in Kyoto." 

"I didn't..." 

"Know? Of course you didn't. How could you? We just met today." 

"Yeah." 

"C'mon on, we better get heading back. C'mon Biyo... Biyo, wake up." 

***

Hawkmon was perched on a tree branch right above where Yolei sat next to Izzy, who was staring intently at his computer screen. 

"What exactly are you doing with my digivice?" 

Izzy sighed, acting like this was the millionth, not the second time, he'd had to explain. _And he didn't even explain it properly the first time._ Yolei thought indignantly. 

"Gennai gave me a program the enable me to download information from certain digimon we have observed. All I need to do is obtain the observer's digivice and connect it with my laptop. I am attempting to do so with your digivice however I have encountered some problems, as yours is not the standard model. You wouldn't happen to have a name for this variation." 

"In fact, we do. They're called D3's" 

"Unoriginal." 

_You're the one who came up with it._ "It stands for detection, defence and discovery^. You know, three d's." 

Izzy gave a grunt that could mean any number of things. 

Trying not to pout and trying not to scream, Yolei looked up into the tree for support from her friend. Hawkmon could only shrug his wings. 

"Oh, you're a lot of help." 

From over by where supper was being prepared, someone giggled. 

Yolei spun around. "You're not much help either, Ken." 

"I'm helping with supper." 

"You're peeling oranges." 

"Hey, Patamon," Matt said, "Where's TK?" 

"He went with Tai to gathered wood." The digimon lying in the sun didn't even open his eyes. 

"No, he didn't." Tai said. He, Kari and Gatomon had returned about ten minutes prior. 

Matt stood up. "TK!!!" 

"Shush, Matt." 

"What is it, Mimi?" 

"I hear something." 

"You know, I hear it too." 

"It sounds like... singing?" 

"Bad singing." 

_ I like mushrooms   
We like mushrooms   
Big ones. Small ones. Tasty ones._

"It sounds like Davis." Ken observed. 

"And TK." 

"Davis and TK, together. I'm surprised they haven't killed each other." Yolei muttered under her breath, just before Davis, TK, on Davis' shoulders, and Vee burst through the bush, blaring at the top of their lungs. 

"Mushrooms! Mushrooms! We love mushrooms! Red ones! Blue ones! Hot, hot pink ones! We love mushrooms." 

"Your singing is terrible." Sora said, coming into camp, carrying a sleeping Biyomon in her arms, and followed by Cody and Armadillomon, "But at least it's good for one thing: We always knew they way to camp." 

Laughing, Davis let TK down and they both started to go through the haul they'd collected. They looked like a little kid at Hall'o'ween. 

"What were you saying about Davis and TK killing each other?" Ken whispered in Yolei's ear. 

"I was mistaken." 

***

"We'll take turns on watch tonight." Tai announced after everyone had eaten. 

"We'll help." Davis volunteered. 

Tai eyed Davis suspiciously. Could he trust these strangers? 

"Logically, more people there are to watch, the more sleep the rest of us get." Izzy noted. 

"Okay." Tai agreed somewhat reluctantly, "Everyone will take a watch, except Kari and TK." Tai looked directly at Cody. "And you. You're too young." 

"I'm almost ten." Cody muttered under his breath. 

"Yoo-hoo, Tai, does that mean I have to take a watch?" Mimi asked innocently. 

"Yes, Mimi," Tai sighed, "it does." 

"Oh, phooey." Mimi pouted. 

*** 

Davis leaned against a great oak, looking out at the darkness around him while Veemon snored at his feet. Both of them were suppose to be awake but Davis figured Veemon wouldn't be able to fight if he was dead tired, so he had let the digimon sleep. It was halfway through the shift and Davis decided to take a walk around the parameter of the camp. He was observing how the older digidestined and digimon slept, practically in one huge dog pile, when he heard faint sobs coming from TK. 

At first, Davis couldn't believe it. Here was his advisory, his rival who he fought, his competitor he tried to outshine to gain Kari's affection, crying. But then, he reminded himself this wasn't the TK he knew. This was a little kid who liked mushrooms and piggybacks and bad singing. This TK wouldn't even meet the boy named Daisuke Motomiya for several years. 

"TK?" Davis asked softy and, when the boy turned toward him, Davis could see tears glistening on his cheeks. Davis reached over and, a little hesitantly, pulled TK into his lap, just like his mother had when he was having sleepless nights. Davis found himself amazed that TK didn't resist in any way. He had known Davis for half a day and already he had total trust. It reminded Davis of those birds that lived on deserted islands that didn't fear humans because they didn't know enough to fear humans. Innocent trust. Davis just hoped Matt or Yolei didn't suddenly wake up. He wasn't sure what was worse, getting beaten to a pulp or dying of embarrassment. 

"Do you want me to get matt?" Davis asked, hoping maybe he could get out of this somehow but TK shock his head no. 

"Patamon?" No. 

"Sora?" No. 

"I don't want to disturb anyone." TK explained quietly. 

_Considerate little kid, isn't he._ Davis thought to himself. "Okay, why are you crying? Did you have a nightmare?" 

TK nodded. "Matt left me and he never, never came back. Never." At the very thought, TK began to sob all over again. 

"Shh, shh." Davis said, patting TK on the back. He had to shut up the kid before he work everyone up. "Listen, TK. I can see the future but you have to be quiet." 

"You can see the future?" He sounded awed. Davis was a little surprised he bought it. It hadn't been one of his better stories, though it wasn't exactly a lie. 

"Yes, I can see a bit of the future. And I know you and Matt will be together. Maybe he'll go away for a while. And maybe you'll go away for a awhile. But you two will always be together in the end." A glimpse of the palace collapsing in on TK and Matt flashed through Davis' mind but he quickly sent it away. If all went well that reality would never happen. "Okay?" 

"Okay." 

"Now get to bed before the others wake up." 

TK obediently crawled out of Davis' lap and curled up next to Patamon. Davis looked at the time on his digivice and saw it was time to wake Yolei up for her shift. 

*** 

Deep, dark eyes watched from the surround under growth. They flickered silently in the stilled darkness, watching as the younger leader woke one of his group, the girl. 

They looked so vulnerable. It looked so easy. The creature was tempted to kill them now and be done with it. But that would be foolish and the watching creature knew that. It was too weak and the children were strong. Best to wait until they were separated. it would happen sooner or later, the creature was sure. history had dictated it and the creature had no intention of muddling in that part of history. So, it turned away, to wait for another dark night to do its killing. 

To be continued... 

^I have no idea what I'm talking about. It's something like that but I'm sure I'm wrong. 

Notes: I sincerely did not think it would take this long to night this story. I thought I would have had it done by summer but, as it turns out, I'm not even half way done. No matter. I will finish. This I vow. However, I'm going away for August and won't be back for a month. Chances of an update in August are about zero to nil. Sorry for the delay and see you (figuratively) in September. -Catalyst 


End file.
